April 2^nd 2016. SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

Gospel: John 20:19-31

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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Gospel: John 20:19-31

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you,’ and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.

‘As the Father sent me,
so am I sending you,’

After saying this he breathed on them and said:

‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven;
for those whose sins you retain,
they are retained.’

Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord,’ he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:

‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Sometimes we are inclined to think that we can live the faith in a private, individualistic way. Read the readings on Sunday and think again! The first reading tell of the wonderful communion of the early church. Their experience of the risen Lord (through the testimony of the apostles) led them to share everything, living completely in the service of others. When we live as a community of faith we testify to the power of the risen Lord and experience his presence. In other words, the way of life of our community is the most powerful way of bringing the message of Christ and his pardon to others. Faith arises from a community and causes people to live as a community. The Gospel tells us that Thomas was not with the others when Jesus appeared and he refused to believe in the risen Lord. Exactly a week later, Thomas was present when Jesus appeared again. The Christian assembly gathered every week then, as it does now. Thomas was brought to faith in the resurrection only when he participated in the weekly assembly, and that is how it is with us. We must enter into the life of the Church if we are to be brought to a deeper faith in the risen Lord. The resurrection is not about improving my private moral virtues! It is not about individual perfectionism! Rather, it is about breaking down the barriers of my ego and enabling me to relate selflessly with others. Of course, in the end, this will lead to a transformation of my being and a moral perfection of a higher sort.

What does the resurrection bring? Individual moral virtues in the believer? Physical wellbeing? No! The resurrection breaks down the barriers between ourselves and others

Every year on the second Sunday of Easter we read the account of the doubting Thomas. The first reading provides a key for interpreting this story. The passage from Acts describes the unity and communion of the early Christian Church in Jerusalem. This leads to the question: what do we celebrate when we rejoice in the resurrection? A moral improvement? Greater physical wellbeing? Just what does the resurrection bring? Does the Spirit of the risen Christ make me more cheerful? Does it help my projects to run more smoothly? No! The sign of the resurrection given in the Acts of the Apostles is the birth of communion, the birth of the Church. The effect of the resurrection in me is that it enables me to live in true communion with others. Let us use this as a key to read the wonderful Gospel of John.

How do we find the Lord? Through an individualistic search? No! Through communion with others, a communion in which the Lord makes himself present.

Thomas is not present when Jesus appears. What must he now do to meet the Lord? Go on a search through the streets? Shout aloud for him? Pray that the Lord might appear? No! The only way to meet the risen Lord is to remain with the others. Eight days later (which means on the following Sunday), Thomas is with the others when Jesus returns. He meets the Lord through communion. The resurrection is a victory over our individualism. It transforms the human being from a creature trapped inside his individual needs and cravings - a being who exists in a state of mortal fear of losing himself - and it turns him into a being who no longer has that fear. The resurrection teaches us that there is life beyond death and frees us from entrapment within our own egos. The result is that we are free to become one with others. We emerge from our constant strategies of self-preservation and develop the capacity to love truly.

We do not find God as individuals. The resurrection is not only about the victory over biological death. It involves the victory over egoism and individualism

The fruit of the resurrection is love. It is not only the victory over the biological reality of death. Victory over biological death would only be temporary and would lead again to death at some future time. What the resurrection brings is new life – the capacity to live in true communion with others. Thomas cannot encounter the Lord any other way except through his communion with others. Is it not possible to encounter the Lord as an individual? No! Let us take St Paul as an example. Did he meet the Lord as an individual? He is thrown from the horse, and the Lord says, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Paul, of course, had been persecuting the Church. And now Jesus calls him to enter into a different kind of relationship with the Church. It is Ananias, the local leader of the Christian community, who heals Saul from his blindness and brings him into union with the Church. The encounter with Christ, thus, is only completed when Saul is brought into communion with the others. It was never about a private relationship between Paul and Jesus.

The resurrection is not geared towards private perfectionism, but is directed to forming us into a community of believers.

What have we done with Christianity? We have transformed it into a private instrument for perfection. This is an evil feature of a contemporary brand of Christianity. We are often more concerned with our private virtues than with the integrity of our relationships with others. But what is more important: who I am to myself or how I treat you? This focus on individual perfectionism is stagnant and doesn’t result in real progress in the Christian life. The individualistic brand of the faith tranquilizes the ego because all seems well with our own private consciences. Christianity is not something designed to effect individual fulfilment. It is something rather that opens the door to relationship with others. It destroys the wall between myself and others. The Lord does not wish that we meet him just for the sake of meeting him. He who thinks he can meet God without also meeting the Church, his neighbours, the people in his life that need to be loved, is mistaken! The God that he thinks he is meeting is an egocentric delusion. In order for Thomas to meet the Lord he must remain with the community. He touches the Lord’s body and he makes a leap of faith. Jesus appears to a community of believers, dissolving the barriers that exist between them, enabling them to become one, giving them the capacity for reciprocal love. This unity is a manifestation of Christ. The resurrection, in short, is not geared towards private perfectionism, but is directed to forming us into a community of believers. Of course, in the end, this touches all of our being and ultimately makes us perfect. Like Thomas, we discover Christ inside the Church.